Commentary: Injured fans on the minds of the drivers

Kyle Larson (32) goes into the catch fence during a crash involving, among others, Justin Allgaier (31), Brian Scott (2), Parker Klingerman (77) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) at the conclusion of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Associated Press

By Ken Willis, Halifax Media Group

Published: Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 10:51 PM.

DAYTONA BEACH -- In the 25 years since the advent of restrictor-plate racing, anxiety and outright anger have largely been expressed by -- and focused upon -- the drivers, many of whom feel Daytona's tight-quarters racing is a dangerous way to provide white-knuckle entertainment.

Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, a place that has seen too many racers injured, it was the racers' turn to aim their concern toward the spectators.

“I looked in the mirror,” said Tony Stewart, who won Saturday's race as all hell was breaking loose behind him, “and that's the worst image I've ever seen in a race in my life.”

Stewart, 41, began racing at age 7.

It's common for the Saturday Nationwide Series race to become a free-for-all. A handful of the drivers are moonlighters from the Sprint Cup Series, and therefore unconcerned with protecting a solid finish for the sake of the season-long standings. Some of the drivers are vastly less experienced with everything Daytona offers.

But mostly, such things have simply become a wild byproduct of restrictor plates, which have been in use here (and sister track Talladega) since 1988. The plates sap horsepower and were employed to slow the 1980s growth in speeds, which were routinely well above 200 mph at the biggest tracks.

While slower speeds give a certain nod toward safety, the plates also equalize the field of cars and dramatically increase the number of cars you see racing in tight packs. A 15-car pack, or even 25-car pack, side by side and nose to tail at very high speeds, has become a common sight and, frankly, a selling point for Daytona and Talladega.

DAYTONA BEACH -- In the 25 years since the advent of restrictor-plate racing, anxiety and outright anger have largely been expressed by -- and focused upon -- the drivers, many of whom feel Daytona's tight-quarters racing is a dangerous way to provide white-knuckle entertainment.

Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, a place that has seen too many racers injured, it was the racers' turn to aim their concern toward the spectators.

“I looked in the mirror,” said Tony Stewart, who won Saturday's race as all hell was breaking loose behind him, “and that's the worst image I've ever seen in a race in my life.”

Stewart, 41, began racing at age 7.

It's common for the Saturday Nationwide Series race to become a free-for-all. A handful of the drivers are moonlighters from the Sprint Cup Series, and therefore unconcerned with protecting a solid finish for the sake of the season-long standings. Some of the drivers are vastly less experienced with everything Daytona offers.

But mostly, such things have simply become a wild byproduct of restrictor plates, which have been in use here (and sister track Talladega) since 1988. The plates sap horsepower and were employed to slow the 1980s growth in speeds, which were routinely well above 200 mph at the biggest tracks.

While slower speeds give a certain nod toward safety, the plates also equalize the field of cars and dramatically increase the number of cars you see racing in tight packs. A 15-car pack, or even 25-car pack, side by side and nose to tail at very high speeds, has become a common sight and, frankly, a selling point for Daytona and Talladega.

Saturday was more of the same in a Nationwide Series race that appeared to have its ugly moment four laps from the finish. A knot of 13 cars wrecked between Turns 1 and 2. That mayhem concluded with driver Michael Annett going to Halifax Health Medical Center, where he was treated for bruising to his chest -- an early-evening statement from his team said he was being kept for observation.

Generally, such incidents are followed by a long run of sane racing. But this time, when the race was restarted, the checkered flag was within reach, which normally means theories are discarded, as driver Parker Kligerman underscored when asked what he saw as the field thundered out of Turn 4 and toward the stripe.

“A bunch of smoke . . . a finish line . . . and full throttle,” said Kligerman.

Sometimes the wrecks ignite when a driver is trying to make a pass; this time it began with Regan Smith trying to prevent one. Smith, approaching the shadow of the flag stand with the lead, tried to block Brad Keselowski from an attempted pass for the win. That's all it took.

“It's Daytona. You have to go for it,” Smith said after exiting his battered car. “We were coming to the checkered flag. You want to win. I don't know how you can play it any differently, other than conceding to second place, and I wasn't going to do that.”

The luckiest racer involved is Kyle Larson, a 20-year-old budding star whose Speedweeks debut was full of theatrics. He finished second in the ARCA 200 last weekend, won a “Battle of the Beach” short-track event Monday by wrecking the leader, and Saturday he lost the entire front half of his car yet walked away.

“I was getting pushed from behind,” Larson said. “By the time my spotter said lift or go low, it was too late and I was in the wreck. . . . I could see the ground and had some flames get in the cockpit but luckily I was all right and could get out of the car quick.”

Larson was behind Smith and Keselowski, and as the crash ensued, Larson's Chevrolet was chucked into the catch fence in an area of the fence that has a locked gate. Catch-fence gates have played a role in past racing incidents, and this one will surely be part of the Daytona and NASCAR investigation.

Those fences are designed – gates and all -- to keep cars and debris from entering the grandstands. This time, it partially failed, and pieces of race cars reached the stands and injured fans. “Fans injured by cars” is the worst thing to hear for racers, who, from the beginning, came to grips with their own danger.

“These fans are diehard to this sport and the drivers,” Stewart said in the quietest Victory Lane you'll ever see. “They come to watch a great show. The last thing you want to do is have any of them get caught up in a wreck that happens on the racetrack.

“There really won't be any celebrating until I find out, hopefully, everybody's all right.”

That good news would not come Saturday night – only news of 28 injured, in various forms of seriousness.

Keselowski, who survived his presence at the wreck's “ground zero,” explained it from his view.

“I kind of had the run and the move to win the race and Regan obviously tried to block it and that's understandable,” he said. “He wants to win too, and at the end it just caused chaos.”

Chaos has often run door-to-door with restrictor-plate racing over the past 25 years. Yes, wrecks -- including fatalities -- happened at Daytona before this form of racing, and happen elsewhere. But when the cars run in big, fast packs, and when it pays more to win than run second, and more to finish eighth instead of ninth, the odds of chaos improve.

Ironically, Daytona's two best plate-racing masters were never fans of those plates. Dale Earnhardt, who won 34 times at Daytona, consistently howled at a form of restriction that made it hard to separate the better cars from the weaker.

And Tony Stewart, second only to Earnhardt with 19 Daytona wins after Saturday, is just as consistent with his frustration.

“The hard part is, you just can't get away from everybody,” said Stewart, who said things intensify greatly with the checkered flag nearing. “. . . Even if a hole is closing up, the guy behind you isn't going to check up and you're not going to check up. You've got to take that chance.

“You want to put on good races, but not at the risk of the drivers and the fans like this. There's no easy solution; never has been. NASCAR is an extremely smart group. They're doing everything they can to keep this from happening. That's the main thing.”